Bittersweet {A Book a Day 4}
Do you ever feel sad and happy at the same time? Enjoy a rainy day? Feel comforted by a sad song?
Then you can relate to this book by Susan Cain, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole.
Cain defines bittersweet as:
“a tendency to states of longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. The bittersweet is also about the recognition that light and dark, birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired.”
We recognize bittersweet moments when we watch our young children play, knowing they won’t be little for long. Or when we laugh and cry with family members at a loved one’s funeral, the mixture of sweet and bitter.
We also understand this hard truth about bittersweetness:
“The place you suffer is the place you care. You hurt because you care. Therefore, the best response to pain is to dive deeper into your caring. Which is exactly the opposite of what most of us want to do.”
Embracing ALL of our emotions—the easy ones as well as the hard ones—makes us a whole-hearted person.
Susan Cain says: Investigate the bitter. Commit to the sweet.
More Quotes from Bittersweet
“We’re built to live simultaneously in love and loss, bitter and sweet.”
~ * ~
“No matter how much your culture tells you to smile, it’s not human to simply move on. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t move forward.”
~ * ~
“If we could honor sadness a little more, maybe we could see it—rather than enforced smiles and righteous outrage—as the bridge we need to connect with each other.”
~ * ~
“It’s not that pain equals art. It’s that creativity has the power to look pain in the eye, and to decide to turn it into something better.”
~ * ~
“Everything that you love, you will eventually lose. But in the end, love will return in a different form.”
Have you read Susan Cain’s Bittersweet or her popular book about introversion, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking? Share your thoughts in the comments.
You are on Day #4 of the series, A Book a Day {Nonfiction Favorites}.
Each day of February 2023 I’ll be recommending one book a day from my favorite nonfiction books.
The Table of Contents for all 28 books is here, updated daily.
Subscribe here to get the recommendations via email (if you don’t already subscribe to the blog).
Previous:
“Do the Work” {Book 3}
Next:
“Tomorrow Will Be Different” {Book 5}
I’ve been experiencing that bittersweet aspect of life for many months now, Lisa. I’m going to have to get this book, for sure!
Blessings!
This is on my TBR already! Thank you for the recommendation.
Love every one of these quotes:
No matter how much your culture tells you to smile, it’s not human to simply move on. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t move forward.”
~ * ~
“If we could honor sadness a little more, maybe we could see it—rather than enforced smiles and righteous outrage—as the bridge we need to connect with each other.”
~ * ~
“It’s not that pain equals art. It’s that creativity has the power to look pain in the eye, and to decide to turn it into something better.”
Thoughtful. Deep. True.
Thank you for taking time to share all this. My husband won’t thank you, however, b/c you are adding to my book list! 🙂
xo
Lynn
Wow, so many thought-provoking quotes! I’m finding that the older I get the more bittersweet everything is, and it’s not a bad thing. Sounds like that’s similar to the message here.
As someone who likes to gloss over the biter. I would like to read this book to rmember that all emotions are necessary. Thank you for sharing!
“It’s not that pain equals art. It’s that creativity has the power to look pain in the eye, and to decide to turn it into something better.”
I thnk that idea pairs well with the scripture Romans 8:28, that for the believer He turns everything into good. Eventually.
This sounds like another one I need to read! I love bittersweet chocolate more than I love bittersweet thoughts ;).
This sounds like a great book! I can’t wait to see your other recommendations. I like how she is honoring the difficult with the easier emotions.
That sounds like a book worth reading. I guess we all feel that bittersweet emotion at times. I think I experience it more these days as I get older. Thanks for sharing, Lisa. Have a blessed week!